Let's not be beastly to Saddam.

After today's announcement of the death sentence for Saddam Hussein, the ex-Iraqi dictator's many useful idiot friends in the west have swung into action. One of the first out of the blocks was Liberal Democrat leader, Minges Campbell who, this morning, I heard on BBC Radio pleading for the sentence to be commuted. This afternoon, the rush to defend the evil tyrant began.

Amnesty International "deplores" the sentence and does not think he had a fair trial; rather the process was "deeply flawed and unfair".

The European Union is against hanging him, as are various human rights groups and lawyers.

The United Nations is also against execution, as is a motley of other national leaders, including Ireland and Spain.

I find it interesting that the nations and organisations against executing Saddam are those who would not lift a finger to relieve the Iraqi people of the evil tyrant's grip.

For the record,the BBC lists all the defendants and their sentences:

The former Iraqi leader was convicted over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on him in 1982.

His half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti and Iraq's former chief judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar were also sentenced to death.

Former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan got life in jail and three others received 15-year prison terms.

Another co-defendant, Baath party official Mohammed Azawi Ali, was acquitted.

Tags: Iraq, Saddam Hussein